Newcastle Brown Ale

42 Blade Chainsaw

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Newcastle Brown Ale is an English Ale originally brewed in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom and is now brewed across the river in Gateshead. It is brewed with English Pale and dark Caramel Malts and lightly hopped with English hops, possibly Fuggles or East Kent Goldings. It may have some other interesting ingredients such as loose corn filler, preservatives and crystalised brown sugar for an alcohol content of 4.7% ABV.

The Newcastle Brown Ale was a brand that eventually became Scottish and Newcastle in 1960. The move to Gateshead was completed in 2005 and is now a division of Heineken International.

While globally nicknamed “Newkie Brown,” natives of the city call Newcastle Brown Ale “the Dog.” as in I'm taking the dog for a walk” or I'm going to the bar to get hammered!

Onto The Method

5.0/10 - The Classic

1.5 - Appearance – Dark walnut amber with healthy carbonation that develops into a chunky tan head with some sticky lacing.

1.0 - Taste – Stings with an overpowering sweetness and a heavy sugar malt base slightly balanced by a highly understated hop character – there's an uneasy yeast profile that is slightly sickening in the stomach.

0.5 - Palate – Very heavy on the caramel side turning sticky sweet with a film that makes me want to wash after myself.

1.0 - Overall – An almost smooth drink turned sticky with overuse of caramel malts and over-sweetened possession. The overall look is appealing and the sweetness is nice as an aroma, but is overdone over an already questionable ingredient foundation.

4.0/10 Blades - The Hammer – the booze -The hammer already starts off at a moderately weak 4.7% ABV and doesn't fare well with its syrupy sugar based body.

5.0/10 Blades - The Knife – digestibility - There are some forgiving qualities to this beer with its knife given its sugary caramel disposition, but not enough to cut through the heart.

4.0/10 Blades - The Spider – the lift - Non-existent alcohol euphoria, rather a strange corn based ethanol sickly lift followed by a mild sugar rush.

4.0/10 Blades - The Motor –can you handle it? - This beer becomes uninteresting to drink, fills the palate with unwanted liquid candy and I was compelled to voluntarily release myself from the trouble of finishing the six pack – three was enough before I continued with something more exciting.

The Chainsaw

20.0/50 Blades - The Buzz – Newcastle Brown Ale has very little of the good qualities associated with traditional English brown. Instead, it is built with some questionable ingredients evident in its flavor and body including some loose corn grains and the use of way too much sugar. It's thick on the syrup side giving it a dull knife over an already weak hammer. There's really not much lift other than a very mild corn ethanol toxicity and a sugar high. If you are a fan of a sugar rush, I'd recommend trying a sweet quality dark chocolate and chase it down with another fine English ale.